Somewhere on the Camino de Santiago, I learned a lesson I keep relearning as a college consultant: the trail markers change, the weather changes, even the people around you change, but the walking is always yours. Nobody can take the steps for you. That goes for the student who has to write the essay, and it goes for the parent who has to bite their tongue while they do.
I think of that every week when the headlines roll in. This one was a slower news week, so I’ve also pulled in a few recent developments that still matter. Students, this is for you. Parents, this is for you. Read it together if you can. I’ll be honest about what I know and what I don’t, because families deserve that, and because I’ve spent 25 years learning that the headlines are never the whole story. Take a breath. None of this is a reason to panic, and all of it is a reason to be intentional.
Selective admissions is still finding its footing
Higher Ed Dive reports Harvard data showing the Black share of its first-year class has dropped from 18% to 9.3% since the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision, while the Asian American share rose from 37% to 43.2%. Different outlets have reported slightly different figures depending on the years they compare, so treat the exact numbers carefully. The direction of change is the story.
Meanwhile in California, about 138,763 students took the SAT, up 12.6%, and the University of California regents are expected to vote by June 2027 on whether to restore testing requirements. Test-optional felt permanent a few years ago. It isn’t.
In the arena, the students who stand out are rarely the ones who ran for the same weapons as everyone else.
The FAFSA is open. Really.
The Education Department opened the 2027-28 FAFSA in late September, the earliest launch in the program’s history. The department says the redesigned form takes about 15 minutes on average and lets students invite a parent or other contributor by text or email. It was the second year in a row the form opened before the October 1 statutory deadline.
There is a quieter lesson in the Clearinghouse data, too: the median time to a bachelor’s degree is 3.7 years, but a single stopout pushes it to 5.1. Some federal aid is capped at the equivalent of 12 full-time semesters, so finishing on time protects your wallet.
Enrollment is up a little, and some colleges are not okay
Preliminary National Student Clearinghouse data shows fall 2026 undergraduate enrollment up 0.6% and graduate enrollment down 1.6%. Under the surface, it’s uneven: Michigan’s public universities lost 5,223 students, the University of Providence in Montana will close at the end of summer 2027, and Pomona College plans to become the parent institution of Claremont Graduate University, pending approvals.
On the rankings front, U.S. News’s 2027 list put MIT at No. 1 among national universities, ending Princeton’s 15-year run, and added a new graduate-earnings-by-major factor. Interesting, yes. A verdict on fit? No.
Failure is only failure if you don’t learn from it. The same is true of a rejection letter.
New accreditation rules and an ongoing legal fight
The Education Department released its final accreditation rule. Accreditors must now consider colleges’ intellectual-diversity policies and may not enforce certain DEI requirements as the administration defines them. The rules take effect next July. Separately, Cornell won a lawsuit over DEI hiring, and a 17-state coalition has challenged a federal mandate for detailed, individual-level admissions data. I couldn’t confirm the outcome of that case this week.
What to Do This Week
- Seniors: file the 2027-28 FAFSA and note each school’s priority aid deadline.
- Parents: gather tax documents and agree on a family budget number before decisions arrive.
- Students: reread your main essay out loud. If it could belong to anyone, rewrite one paragraph.
- Juniors: sketch a testing plan, with at least one test date on the calendar.
- Everyone: ask each school on your list about four-year graduation rates and financial stability.
Not sure how this affects your student?
Let’s talk it through together. No pressure, just a plan that fits your family.
Book a Conversation— Chris Parsons, College Planning Center
Carpe diem.
